Football

Fresh off four straight losses, the last two of which have come in embarrassing fashion, the Florida Gators take the field as for an early kickoff on Saturday on the road at the South Carolina Gamecocks. South Carolina is in the middle of a confidence-building season under its familiar second-year coach, while Florida has hit rock bottom and is trying to find its way back up.

Tale of the tape

Florida Gators

S. Carolina Gamecocks

Head coach

Randy Shannon

Will Muschamp

Record

3-5 (3-4 SEC)

6-4 (4-3 SEC)

Conference

Southeastern

Southeastern

Three things to know

1. Bowl eligibility is on the line: For all the talk about Florida being down in the dumps, it still holds its destiny in its own hands. Sure, the Gators must now win out in order to finish with six wins and automatically advance to a bowl game, but that’s not entirely impossible considering the teams remaining on its schedule. Regardless, it all starts with getting at least one more notch in the win column. UF completely mailed in last week’s game, and though it was against a talented offensive unit, looked unable to compete in any of the game’s three phases. We should know early on Saturday whether that performance is going to repeat itself.

2. This game can go either way: As mentioned above, if Florida wants to save its season, it can start a turnaround today. The Gators were called out all week and should have been ashamed at the performance they put on the field a week ago. Couple that with the fact that the Gamecocks’ offense is far from one of the nation’s best, and the visitors may have an opportunity here for a get-right game. All of that said, Muschamp is no doubt salivating at the opportunity to stick it to Florida with his 92nd-ranked offense. That’s a bit of a shot, but South Carolina’s defense is also 32nd nationally and ranked higher than UF in most categories.

3. More missing pieces: Say all you want about how bad the Gators look on the field, they’re playing without a significant portion of their roster. A total of 23 players are suspended or out (eight out for the season, including six starters) for Saturday’s game. That’s 1-in-4 or 27 percent of Florida’s scholarship players. When you combine a lack of available talent with some poor defensive recruiting and a midseason coaching change, it’s no surprise UF is playing as it has been lately. It’s important to keep that in perspective even as the Gators flounder on the field.

Prediction and analysis

Spread: Florida +5 | O/U: 43

There have been plenty of weeks where, to the detriment of the picks record below, I’ve given Florida the benefit of the doubt. That ends this week. The Gators are short-handed and playing on the road in a noon kickoff against their former coach. The Gamecocks are ranked better offensively and defensively — way better defensively. South Carolina forced Georgia to play a four-quarter game — something Florida did not accomplish — and has two of its three losses on the road this season. It is also 2-0 against UF (1-1 against the spread) when favored at home over the last decade.

I thought -9 was absurd yet coverable when the line opened, but now that it’s at -5, it’s a no-brainer to me. I’d love to see it down to four, so if you can buy a point for they key number, go ahead and do that. The total is an indication of the poor offenses of each team, but I’m not sure it truly takes into account Florida’s defense has been. Still, even if South Carolina does score a bunch, I’m not sure UF can muster 20 points, which it has not done since Sept. 30.

Game notes

» Florida is 26-8-3 all-time against South Carolina with the Gators holding an 11-6-1 record on the road in Columbia. Things have evened out recently between the teams as UF is just 6-4 in the last 10 meetings.
» The Gators beat the Gamecocks 20-7 last year in the first meeting since Muschamp took over.
» South Carolina is favored against Florida for the third time in the last seven meetings (all home games). The Gamecocks are 2-0 in the prior two meetings.
» The Gatos have given up 42+ points in consecutive games for the first time since 1917, and they are allowing more points per game than they have in any season since 1946. UF’s defense is also the only unit nationally to not recover a fumble this season.
» Florida is 214-13 since 1990 when an opponent scores 21 points or fewer in a contest, including 19-2 over the last 2+ seasons.
» In that same time frame, the Gators are 18-4 against unranked opponents and 4-8 against ranked opponents. UF is 16-1 when outrushing an opponent, 18-5 when scoring first, 16-3 when leading at half and 10-1 when winning the turnover battle. UF is 9-3 in one-possession games and 13-10 in games decided by eight points or more.
» Florida owns the nation’s longest streak of returning either a kickoff or punt for a touchdown, doing so in 12 consecutive seasons. It has yet to do so in 2017.
» The Gators have the second-most wins in the nation since 1990 (261).
» Florida has scored in 369 straight games, the longest active streak in the nation and longest streak all-time.

One Comment

This is the worst OC and Quarterback I have ever seen at Florida. The offensive line doesn’t block a soul. Felipe Franks is digusting as a Qb to even watch play. Its almost like they didn’t even bother to recruit any offensive linemen, thise guys couldn’t block a pee wee league team. Doug Nussmeire or whatever his name is should be drawn and quartered and spread over the Tallahatchee bridge. He is the worst OC in the country. Dan Mullen needs to return and fire every body. Randy Shannon is ok but he is a Cane not a Gator period.

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